Various types of beverage coolers have been developed for providing easy access to canned or bottled beverages contained in a cooler with ice.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,880, issued to Welker et al., is directed to a chilled beverage display container adapted to hold ice and beverages separate from water formed from melted ice. A float having a density less than water is adapted to support the ice and beverages and move upwardly within the cavity as the ice melts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,085, issued to Rogers is directed to a cooler with floating section. An outer container and a buoyant inner container assembly within the outer container is included. The inner container is dimensioned to slide vertically within the outer container and a container recess is provided in the upper surface of the inner container assembly to hold beverage containers and ice. The inner container assembly has a buoyancy which will float it upon the liquid which is drained into the outer container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,288 issued to Lewis describes an apparatus for organizing articles inside a portable cooler. A base having a channel defined therein provides an interconnecting structure for a plurality of tubular members. The tubular members have a flange at one end that fits into the channel on the base and slide onto the base from either of two open ends of the tubular members. The tubular members are capable of sliding in the channels from one end to the other. Accordingly, the base provides a structure for interconnecting the tubular members and for providing stability to the tubular members once the cooler or ice chest is loaded with ice.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,411 issued to Garland, Jr. discloses a cooler chest with ice-surrounded food compartment. The ice-surrounded food compartment includes an outer container that supports an outer lid. An inner container having an inner lid is carried within the outer container. In use, a portion of the base of the inner container is inserted into the recessed region defined in the base of the outer container. The inner container is thermally conductive between its outer and inner surfaces and allows heat to be transferred from items of food stored within the inner container to ice and water carried within the ice storage area defined between the outer and inner containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,559 issued to Hasanovic discloses an ice chest and insert. An ice chest is comprised of an insulating base and insulating sidewalls upstanding from the base. Within the container is a false floor supported in spaced relation from the insulating base and having a perimeter located close or adjacent to the insulating sidewalls. An ice feed tube secured to the false floor has a bore opening into the space between false floor and the insulating base. The bore permits passage of ice pieces through the bore into the space between the false floor and the insulating base. The false floor permits heat transfer across its thickness, thereby facilitating cooling of articles located on and above the false floor.
While other variations exist, the above-described designs for height adjustable beverage coolers are typical of those encountered in the prior art. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a beverage cooler that provides convenient access to canned or bottled beverages contained within ice. It is a further objective to provide such access in a beverage cooler that provides optimal cooling conditions for canned or bottled beverages. It is yet a further objective to provide a beverage cooler that may be easily cleaned and stored. It is an additional objective of the invention that the beverage cooler may be easily fabricated from standard and readily available components. It is a final further objective of the invention to provide the above-described capabilities in an inexpensive and durable beverage cooler that is capable of extended use.
While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified.